


The Forge Of Sunsets

by SilverHalos88



Series: Time Limited Love [7]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Constellations, Dancing, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Happy, Love, Romance, Star Gazing, Stars, The TARDIS Helps Out, alien world, enjoy it while it lasts, weird science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29317071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverHalos88/pseuds/SilverHalos88
Summary: “The Doctor has stepped over the line, and broken one of the most sacred of Timelord laws. By looking into his and Missy’s future he has found the knowledge he needs to ensure the survival of the impossible love that they have forged with each other. It would seem all is finally beginning to go their way, but little do they know of the shadow that is building just below the horizon. Time is running out, in more ways than one…”This is the seventh part of my ongoing 12th Doctor/Missy story which sees them as an established couple trying to keep their relationship alive in spite of seemingly overwhelming forces trying to stop them. This and the next part were actually going to be a single thing, but this part grew a life of its own and turned into its own thing and yeah, it was nice to see them happy again. At least for a while…
Relationships: Twelfth Doctor/Missy
Series: Time Limited Love [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103555
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	The Forge Of Sunsets

The mountains seemed to move as they watched them.  
It was all due to the haze created by millions of litres of steam escaping from the Steel-Sung Sea, a massive inland body of liquid that was as much water as it was exotic oils. It almost constantly glistened with all the colours of the rainbow, waves of red clashing with swells of green in a never-ending battle of shades and hues. Every day, the heat from the twin suns above would shine down relentlessly, reaching from the azure mountains in the south to the ever-blossom forests that filled the northern shores. The days were longer here than on Earth, lasting for months at a time. As the day lingered on, the heat from above would build to a breaking point, causing vast plumes of steam to escape into the atmosphere, forming short lived clouds that filled the sky with colour before they were swept far over the mountains by the planet’s Jetstream. By the time night would fall the whole sea would be gone, revealing a stunning landscape of corals and bushes, deep canyons and rolling hills, all of which would have been stained huge ranges of colours that would be different each time the waters would vanish. Yet the strangest thing was, it never felt overly hot or cold; the unique geological process of the planet ensured everything was kept in a narrow range, one that allowed life to thrive whatever the season but still enabled the strange processes to take place. The entire world would bounce from one climate to another for months at a time and be completely fine, this basin like all the others refilling by the time the night cooled and ended. The colours were the only consistent, bright and breath taking, never fading.  
“It’s like an artist threw up.” Missy said as she pushed another strand of hair from her face. “And I’m not keen on the wind either.”  
“Yes, it does seem like someone broke a giant kaleidoscope, doesn’t it? I’d still says it’s beautiful though. Not as beautiful as-” The Doctor said, but Missy cut him off.  
“Nope, don’t even say it. I’ve already recovered from one wound. I do not need to become sick from too much mushy stuff, thank you very much.” Missy said sternly. For a moment the two just sat on the old stone bench on the side of the cliff, looking out at the sea and the columns of steam.   
“It’s still true though.” The Doctor said, smiling to himself. His smile grew brighter as he watched her roll her eyes.   
“And I’m supposed to be the evil one.” She said, shaking her head. The Doctor put his arm around her.  
“You’re lucky I love you.” She said as she learned in close to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Yes, the Doctor thought to himself. He felt very lucky.  
It had been two weeks since the ambush by the Shadow Proclamation jump-soldiers at Missy’s secret beach. Two weeks since she had almost sacrificed her last life to save him. Two weeks since he had broken one of the foundation rules of Timelord culture and looked into his future. He didn’t want to believe it had been that long, but he had counted every second. There had only been one moment when he had lost track of the ticking clock that sat constantly in the center of his mind; when Missy had woken up. It had taken days for his treatments to have the full effect, though even now her wounds were still stubbornly refusing to heal completely. That hadn’t stopped her from getting up and about though, refusing to spend a minute longer resting despite the pain that she did her best to push down. She had become even more doggedly persistent when he had shared with her what he had seen of their futures.  
Their regenerations were only a few months away, at best.  
She had listened intently as he explained the story of what was to come, of how they would find a colonization ship caught in the midst of the birth of a cyberman army and the grip of a black hole, and how they would both lose their lives during the ensuing conflict. She had been typically dismissive of their dark fates, but he had sensed the fear pass over her, soaking her as surely as if she had been caught in a rainstorm. He hated seeing her like that. All he wanted to do was tell her that they would just avoid the incident entirely, but he knew that would be a step to far. He knew the future now. That meant it had to happen, those events were fixed in place. You couldn’t alter time, not in instances like this, but if you were smart and lucky, you could cheat it. Thankfully, they were both incredibly smart. Well, most of the time at least.   
Ever since she had awoken, he and Missy had been doing their best to finalize their plan to essentially hack their next regenerations. It had taken a lot of struggle to get to this point, but their efforts had finally come to fruition. The neural interfaces were almost ready. The sub biological devices would create a snapshot of their current personalities, complete with all their thoughts and feelings, essentially creating a mental back up of who they were. They would be inserted into their bodies, immune to the effects of regeneration energies. After they had entered into their next regenerations, the neural interfaces would activate, merging their new identities with their old ones in a kind of biological reboot, re-establishing who they were now and effectively saving their relationship. It was a masterpiece, and it was about to work. The Doctor had even begun to help with the Elysian Field generator Missy had been working on, a device that would give her access to a whole new cycle of regenerations. They would face their fates without fear, ensuring the normal flow of time while also saving their love. It was brilliant, and was why they were here on the ancient world of Abroxia.   
The act of getting to the planet was an adventure in and of itself. The whole world was time locked, and for good reason. Abroxia was the home of the Abroxian forgers, one of the first civilisations to reach a technological level that allowed them to build whole galaxies. During their time in the first silver era of the universe they had built countless worlds, worlds that would go on to be the homes of species and civilisations that themselves would go on to become huge players in the story of existence. The Abroxians would eventually die out, but their activities as engineers of the highest order had tied them into the history of a huge chunk of time. The Timelords had decreed that because of this, their entire history was off limits to all time travellers, sealing the period with timelocks that were second only to those used in the time wars. It had taken their combined intellect to break through the locks and find a way to Abroxia, but it had been totally worth it. The skill of the Abroxian forgers were what they needed to finish the neural interfaces. Right now, as they sat and watched the vanishing sea, the master crafters were hard at working bonding the various components together. All they had to do now was wait.  
“You know, we could use the TARDIS to skip ahead.” The Doctor said. Missy reached over and put her hand on his chest, pushing him back against the bench.  
“No, let’s take the slow route instead. It’s only twenty-two hours. Might as well just relax and take in the view.” She said indifferently, but he sensed the hesitancy in her voice. It was buried deep down, something she didn’t want to admit even to herself.  
“I think we can manage that. We don’t have to rush back. We don’t have to go back at all, at least not for a while.” He offered.  
“Tut-tut, what will the bald one say? We’ll be the talk of the town.” Missy said. The Doctor frowned. He understood her concern. Nardole had been on edge ever since he had discovered the truth about their relationship. After a tense few days he had begrudgingly come to accept it, or at least had stopped trying to break them up, though he made his disapproval clear with every opportunity. The Doctor hoped that with time, Nardole would see the truth in their relationship, but Missy was finding it hard having a challenge to them so close to home. He knew how tempting it would be for her just to remove him from the equation entirely, and understood why she didn’t want to spend much time around him.   
“Don’t worry, Nardole will never know we’ve been gone. If worse comes to worse I’ll delete it from his memory banks. It’ll be fine, I promise. Any ideas what you want to do?” He asked as he squeezed her reassuringly. Missy shrugged.  
“I don’t know. What does one do on a forbidden world?” She said. The Doctor smiled.  
“I have an idea.”

“Why is it that grass is always the same? Such a weird plant. We should go look into that one day.” Missy said absentmindedly as she plucked a blade of grass and rolled it around her fingers. The Doctor smiled at her.  
“You really must be changing if you’re focusing on grass.” He said with a small laugh. Missy turned to him. She rolled the blade of grass up into a ball and flicked it at him, hitting him square in the nose. She smiled sinisterly.  
“I’m just considering future weapon applications.” She said, laughing at his surprise. He shook his head and nudged closer to her.   
“Now now Missy, don’t go getting any ideas for the future.” He said as he took her hand, smiling.  
“Why, will the mighty Doctor have to come stop me?” She said playfully, leaning closer to him and placing her hand lightly around his neck. He reached up, cupping her hand with his on.  
“Maybe I will. Or maybe I’ll just do this.” He said as he pulled her hand away from his neck and moved it to his lips. She shuddered as he kissed her hand. Then she pushed him onto his back and learned down over him, barely an inch between their lips.   
“You keep doing that.” She whispered, her eyes searching his and finding only the same love and compassion that had filled them for years now.  
“Are you complaining?” He whispered back, smiling as she bit her lip.  
“Not at all.” She said simply. Then she leaned down and kissed him, her eyes closing as soon she felt his skin next to hers. They continued to kiss as he wrapped his arms around her, momentarily forgetting the rest of the world existed.   
“I thought we were meant to be watching the stars.” Missy said, reluctantly pulling away from him.  
“I’m looking at the brightest star already.” The Doctor said with a straight face. Missy rolled her eyes as she pushed herself up and straightened her dress.   
“Why do I love you?” She asked herself as the Doctor burst out laughing.   
“Beats me. Anyways, you’re right, the stars. Its not often you get to see extinct constellations.” The Doctor said as he straightened out his side of the blanket. They had positioned themselves high up on a hill a little way from the city, avoiding most of the light pollution. They had used the TARDIS to move to the other side of the planet, away from the famous forges, to where the months long night was still in full effect. There was little cloud cover here, and above a dark blue blanket was littered with sparkling lights of all shapes and sizes.  
“We can see any constellation whenever we want. We can go there! I must admit of all the things we could have done, this wasn’t on my list. I was imagining something more, physical.” She said, her voice filled with suggestion.  
“You’re right, we can. But there’s something special about seeing them like this, something you don’t get when seeing them from space. And I’m not just talking about the sparkle before you get clever. See that one there, the five stars that form a crescent, and then connect with the three at the end? That’s the Esborium. That was the first ship of Abroxian culture that was able to travel to another star system. Millions of brave pioneers reaching out into the darkness, into the unknown, not really knowing what they would find on the other side, knowing that there was a good chance that they would never see home again. Many of them didn’t. Their descendants were so in awe of their achievements that they built new stars and rearranged others so that they could memorialize them in the very sky that had inspired them generations before. And there, you see the collection of blue and red ones in the shape of a tick, flashing almost in pattern? They call that the half arrow. The ancients of this world used it to navigate the vanishing seas, using it as beacon so they always knew where they were. Later on, their space explorers would use it in a similar way too. You see Missy, the stars are more than just their natural beauty and magnificence. They become a part of the lives of all the people who see them, becoming a part of countless stories. They’ve been beacons of hope and omens of disaster, sometimes even gods. They’ve been the silent listeners to an unimaginable number of prayers and dreams, bore witness to so much history they make us look like novices. Sure its incredible to see the stars up close. But sometimes you need to take a step back and listen to what they have to tell you. That is a privilege all of its own.” The Doctor said, his voice filling with awe and inspiration. He spoke like he was the only one there, as if his voice could reach into the heavens themselves and thank each of the stars in turn for allowing him the honour of being here. As he continued his eyes grew wider, until he looked like a child who for the first time realised that all the lights in the sky were worlds of their own and was having their mind blown by how small and precious they really were. It was like he could lose himself in that view, in that instance of never ceasing wonder, that scene of dreams made real. But then the moment passed and the Doctor blinked rapidly, pulling his eyes away from the sky. He smiled, embarrassed.   
“I’m sorry, I lost myself for a moment there. It’s silly, we can just drink our wine and tell stories if you like.” He said. Missy just looked at him for a moment, a small smile of her own on her face. It would have been so easy to mock him as a sentimental old fool, but there was a truth in his words that had done something to her. It was inspiring, hearing him talk with such passion. It was why she loved him so much, if the rapid beating of her hearts were anything to go by.  
She reached out and took his hand reassuringly.   
“No, go on. Tell me more. What about those ones over there?” She asked, pointing to a collection of stars that sat a few meters above the horizon. The Doctor’s face lit up. Missy made herself comfortable on the blanket as she snuggled closer to him. In times past she might have put on a smile, fixed her eyes on some distant point, and then let herself drift off into a waking sleep. But not this time.   
This time she listened. 

The next few hours were filled with all kinds of stories, ones that covered mythology and folklore, historical events and hopeful tales, as well as dozens of things in between. It seemed like there were no end of stories and indeed, Missy sensed that the Doctor would have kept talking for the months until dawn came if his voice didn’t show the first signs of becoming hoarse. With more reluctance than what she was expecting, she forced herself to break their cuddle and sit up on the blanket. She glanced at the empty wine bottle, then back over her shoulder, up the hill slightly to where the TARDIS was parked. They still had a few hours to spare until the neural interfaces were ready for pick up.   
“Everything alright?” The Doctor asked, stretching his legs. By all rights both of them should have been exhausted by now, but neither of them was in any hurry to sleep.  
“Yes, I’m fine. Just thinking of something else to do. It’s my pick this time.” She explained, her eyes going slightly distant as she thought.  
“Hopefully nothing too far. I’d rather stick close to the planet if you don’t mind.” The Doctor said. Missy’s eyes lit up.   
“I know! Come on.” She said simply. She jumped to her feet and rushed for the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor to pick up the blanket and empty bottle. It seemed only a few moments later that the TARDIS was rematerializing at another part of the planet, Missy darting around the controls with a steady, dedicated hand. The TARDIS purred with encouragement as it shuddered to a halt, but Missy didn’t move right away. Instead she placed her hand on the psychic circuits and closed her eyes. It only lasted for a second at most.  
“Ok girl, you know what to do.” Missy said before turning to the door.  
“What was that about?” The Doctor asked, following after her. Missy looked back over her shoulder, smiling.   
“You’ll see. Now be a good boy and leave the door open.” She said as she left the TARDIS. Fascinated, the Doctor did as she asked and followed her outside.  
They were in the north of the planet, much closer to the pole, but it wasn’t the dark night they had been looking at before. Instead they were on the slowly moving edge that marked the boundary between night and dark. Vast streaks of light stretched out from the horizon as the slowly moving twin suns clung to the very lip of the horizon, trying to battle against the shadows as they continued their ceaseless march across the sky. It was this ceaseless conflict that filled the sky with beautiful, breath-taking spectacles, huge arches of light that stretched for dozens of miles, while countless shinning spears shot out from the where the suns hung, creating shimmering ripples that seemed to come from some mythical heaven. It was remarkable.  
“Well don’t just stand there. It’s not going to work if you’re all the way over there.” Missy said, beckoning him over. Leaving the doors of the TARDIS open, he quickly joined her, noting how different the ground felt here.  
“So what’s the idea?” He asked. Missy smiled.  
“Ah, now its my turn to have all the answers.” She said, relishing the moment. She turned slowly on the spot, gesturing at the area around them. It was flat and almost featureless, the nearest hills being over a mile away. “We, my dear Doctor, are standing on a frozen lake. It’s one of the few on the planet. An underground cryo-spring keeps the majority of the lake frozen all year round, despite how on the surface it feels like just another spring day. You wouldn’t even know its ice if you didn’t look at it closely. Anyways, most of these frozen lakes are pure water, the runoff from the factories never reaching them. This one is different though, younger. Which means you can do this.” With that Missy looked at the open doors and whistled. As soon as she did the TARDIS buzzed with activity. The ground shook for a moment as deep within the TARDIS, a handful of generators kicked into life and excess energy was vented out. The energy flashed through the ice, interacting with the frozen oils that were suspended within it, making their molecules vibrate just enough to warp the light that passed through them. Within seconds the whole area came alive with colour, endless waves shinning through the ice and flickering beneath their feet. It was like walking through a rainbow, stepping on a crystal spectrum as it shattered into a million pieces, each shard another colour waiting to fill the air with its radiance.   
“Missy, this is amazing.” The Doctor said as he looked around, eager to take in the spectacle. Missy approached him, a proud look on her face.  
“Well it is me darling. What did you expect? But we’re not through just yet.” She said, and gave the TARDIS another whistle. A look of surprise came over the Doctor’s face.  
“Early 21st century Earth pop music? Really?” He asked, listening to the music as it flowed through the doors, seemingly directed straight at them. Missy shrugged, an indifferent smile on her face.  
“I know you like the place. Plus it’s better than the local Abroxian music.” She said as she put her arms around his neck.   
“What are we supposed to do?” He asked, confused. Missy rolled her eyes.  
“Nothing, nothing at all. Just dance with me. No more questions now.” She said as she started swaying her hips from side to side. The Doctor placed his hands at her sides, matching her movements.   
“But there’s so much I want to say.” He said, hoping she would take the bait. Missy saw what he was doing. She shook her head, smiling at the silliness of it all, but then gave in.  
“Well,” she begun, not quite believing what she was about to say. “As the song says, you say it best when you say nothing at all.” Missy rolled her eyes again as the Doctor laughed, but then they were kissing and dancing as the music took them. As one, they let themselves be taken by the moment, the music and the rainbow lights from below guiding their motions as they lost themselves in each other. Soon there was nothing else but that feeling of closeness. That and the setting suns, far on the horizon. Though their light was fading the shadows wouldn’t take them just yet.   
Not right now at least, and in this moment, that was enough.


End file.
